Public Enemies
by ThisStrawberryIsYours
Summary: Lex Luthor is President and her fellow heroes are standing against her. Fear and lies make Superwoman and Batman public enemy number one against their friends and their country... and left as a bounty for everyone else. *Public Enemies AU* girl!Clark Kent
1. President Luthor

**Note: **This is a "what-if" fic _partly_ based off of _Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. _Please take into consideration that I will be twisting, adding, and whatever else I like to this story to suit my needs. Also, this won't be strictly based off this one comic. There will be references from other comics, movies, and shows scattered throughout.

**Genderbent Clear-Ups: **Clark Joseph (or Jerome, w/e) Kent, is now Josephine (Josie, or Jo) Margaret Kent. I know it sounds weird, but I didn't want to go with the obvious "Clara", so I chose a feminine form of Joseph. Let's just pretend she was named after her grandparents. Her Kryptonian name is Kala (pronounced Kaw-La, and not so choppy), making her Kala Jor-El. Superwoman is obviously her hero alias. Her physical appearance will be addressed as you read, but she's basically what you'd imagine: a feminine Clark, but with much longer hair and a lot less bulk.

Sorry for all the rambling, but I'm a sucker for detail and I wanted this to be as non-confusing as possible.

*****Please excuse any and all grammar/ spelling mistakes. I'm sure there are quite a few. And do keep in mind this is just a fanfic, an AU one at that, so some details may not be canon :D R&R!

**Disclaimer: **DC owns… I am not DC :/

"Don't worry, Ma'am. Your son should be fine in a few weeks."

Her brown eyes followed the ambulance carrying her son. She wanted to be with him, but there was enough room for only one, and she sacrificed her chance to be that one for her daughter-in-law. She wasn't a small woman, but I wouldn't go as far as to call her fat, either. Her black hair was lightened by random strands of gray and her face was dinted with laugh lines. She was one of the calm ones, if outward appearances were anything to go by. But I picked up on her nervous habits quick enough; she fiddled with the ends of her shirt sleeves and smoked too many cigarettes. I could still smell the scent of smoke lingering on her clothes, and see the faint yellowing of nicotine that stained her teeth and fingernails. I'm not sure if anyone else could see it.

"Thank You, Superwoman." Her voice was coated with the relief she failed to conceal. I know she wants to believe she didn't just spend the last hour hoping desperately that her son would survive the collapsed mine he was trapped under, wants to believe all along she knew that everything was going to be okay. But I also know that nothing was going to convince her of that until she saw her boy with her own eyes. Her heart had been erratic the whole time.

I smiled. Her thick accent reminded me of the country, and the country always reminded me of home. _I really need to visit Ma and Pa soon_.

I wanted to say more, but as I watched her eyes stray off into the distance, I knew she wouldn't hear me. The poor woman needs a break, I thought. Something more was happening in her life, something more than this recent disaster. Whatever it was, it wasn't something Superwoman could fix. No matter how much I'd like to help.

Giving her one more hopeful smile, I bid her and the other families a farewell before taking off to the skies. I stopped when I crossed out of West Virginia into Ohio, closing my eyes to decipher among a cacophony of different cries for help. This was always the most difficult part, choosing where to go and when. Flash asked me once how I chose between lives, chose which were more important than others. He didn't mean any harm, but I still wince thinking about it.

_Can't think about that now, Kent. Focus_.

I trained my ears long ago to pick apart different noises and voices, separating them from an entire rush of sound to be understood singularly. So I listened some odd thousands of feet above the ground, mentally categorizing the things that could be handled later from the things that needed me at that moment.

A fire in Indiana. The firefighters have it under control.

Drug bust in Chicago. They don't need me for that. Not this time, at least.

Sinking cruise ship in the Atlantic…That's an issue. I may need some help with the passengers while I take care of that one. I brought my hand to lightly activate my earpiece.

The droll monotone of J'onn Jones greeted me. _"Watchtower. What can I assist you with, Superwoman?"_

"There's a cruise ship going down in the Atlantic. I don't know the cause, but there are passengers and I may need some-."

"_It is not your concern. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman should be arriving there in moments. However, you may want to find yourself back in Metropolis."_

"Oh." I changed directions quickly, not realizing I was still flying towards the sinking ship. "What's the situation?"

There was silence for a few moments, and then, _"It may be better explained if you listened for yourself."_

Once our connection ended, I listened closely to my city and found that nothing had changed. People were going crazy in this country. I've reported the same things at the Daily Planet for months: riots, breaking and entering, businesses collapsing, even petty street theft crime rates were going up. The stock market had been plummeting in a way we haven't seen since the Depression. America was in an uproar of disbelief and fear. Our pride couldn't fathom the mess we'd put ourselves in.

A psychotic break on a nationwide scale. A paranoia epidemic. Wackadoodle juice. It was one of those reasons, I do declare. I'm going to bitterly stand by that hypothesis, naively accepting it as the reason, the _only_ reason, that the American people would elect _Lex Luthor _as President.

People are going crazy.

Crazy makes people do desperate things.

My head wasn't clear. Lex Luthor is President, and I hate it, but it's been distracting me too much lately. Bruce was right. _Get over it, Kent. The world is ending in a different way today_. That's what he said to me when an earthquake threatened to set off Yellowstone's super volcano. Thank God nothing actually happened that day. We took it as a warning, and started making the necessary evacuation plans and shelter areas we were missing before. Honestly, as much as it pains me to think it, those plans aren't going to help much of anything.

I shook my head. _Nice going, Josie_. I needed to listen to what's going on before someone gets hurt. There was a reason J'onn told me to go to Metropolis.

I stopped the stolen, red sports car before it had the chance to stop itself by way of another vehicle. The man behind the wheel was frantic and desperate, and though it's true those things aren't exactly the cocktail of stellar decision making, I couldn't figure how he reasoned plowing head-on into backed-up traffic was the wisest thing he could've done.

The car was lifted weightlessly above my head, the tires continuing to spin inches away from my shoulders. One of the police choppers chasing and reporting the crime hovered in midair for the moment I flew slowly passed it before turning, realizing the chase was over. I carried the car away from the busy interstate, pausing above an unfinished section clear of pedestrians or cars or any other thing with the possibility of getting hurt or damaged.

I could pretend for the moment I didn't see the three heroes waiting for me. Pretend they weren't there, at least, until one of them spoke.

I wholeheartedly didn't want to talk to them.

Captain Atom addressed me first. "So this is what you've been up to the last few months."

"Chasin' cars," Major Force added, crossing his arms across his red and gold chest as he stepped closer to Atom. I didn't appreciate the taunting tone of his voice. Not at all.

"I help wherever I'm needed." The engine was still running above my head, and I contemplated letting the car down to drive away again, just so I could use chasing it as an excuse to escape. Immature at the best of times, I suppose.

"But you haven't been needed much lately, have you?" Atom asked, his silver lips moving against each syllable.

"What do you want?"

Ma wouldn't be very proud of how rude I sounded, but Ma wasn't here. And to be frank, I was a more than a bit disappointed in a number of my fellow heroes lately. I wanted them to see that. More confusing than the general body of these United States, were the heroes I had fought beside.

How could they work for _him_?

"We want you to admit something…"

Atom was interrupted by the man from inside the sports car that, admittedly, I had forgotten about. The man was sick looking. Pale, gaunt features and eyes that were lifeless. He held a gun to his temple in a sloppy, shaky hold. He was on something, no doubt about it. "I'll shoot myself! I swear!"

"Excuse me," I said, managing to be somewhat polite, if not a bit sarcastic. Focusing through the metal of the car to the weapon clasped in the man's hand, I knocked the gun away from him with low powered laser beams. Cops that had arrived some few minutes ago cuffed the man and escorted him away as soon as I placed the car on the unfinished road. I watched them drag the man away, mentally sighing before throwing myself into a conversation I really didn't want to be a part of. "Now, what am I supposed to admit?"

"That Luthor hasn't done a bad job." Captain Atom continued, as if he was truly justified.

I looked from Atom to Major Force to one person I truly couldn't believe would stand against me. When my eyes met Power Girl's, I turned away. Karen looked guilty, and I _felt_ guilty for thinking she should be.

"Told you this would be a waste of time," Major Force announced as I walked away from them. I was quite unable to believe this was really happening. That they honestly couldn't see…

Power Girl's voice grew louder as she jogged to catch up to me. "Luthor is doing the one thing nobody was expecting. He made things boring again! And boring's good, isn't it? The economy is back to normal, crime's down, there are no wars or anything… "

She sounded desperate to believe what she was saying, as desperate as the look in the druggie's eyes. A very small part of me could almost understand. Things were getting beyond chaotic in our country, that is, until Luthor's _magnificent _reformation. It was too good to be true, the way our situation was starting to turn around. And that's because it _was_ too good.

That _small_ bit of understanding I could have had was squashed suddenly by the _large _urge to knock some sense into her. "He's up to something. Can't anybody see that?"

"That's what I thought at first." I turned as Atom and Major Force moved to stand beside Power Girl. Atom was trying to stubbornly reason with me. "But eventually I realized all he was trying to do was putting that formidable intellect in doing such a good job no one will have a _choice_ but to respect him. It's all about _ego_, now."

Doing a good job. Lex Luthor was doing a good job, so of course that meant we should all forget about the not so good job he was doing before? Unbelievable.

"I will never respect him," I declared for an innumerable time, using every ounce of gut-twisting instinct and conviction I had. "He's a sick man."

Major Force must have decided I would love his input. "He's not the first to sit in the Oval Office."

"He's right. There've been womanizers, drunks, crooks…"Atom agreed, obviously. "But Nixon helped turn our worst enemy into our best trading partner. And Johnson gave us the Voting Rights Act."

There wasn't anything they could say to sway me. All I heard was misconstrued nonsense. "Thanks for the history lesson, but I'm not buying it."

"Come on, work with us." Power Girl's guilt and desperation turned into sympathy. Sympathy for me. I needed sympathy because I refused to rely on and work _for_ a mad man who has personally tried to destroy me. "Please? We need you."

"Sorry."

I wasn't, though. Not for me. I was sorry that I was becoming bitter. Upset that I let that bitterness plant a desire to see this all blow up in their faces. But I couldn't hold on to that desire, I just didn't have it in me.

I shot upwards, leaving them there with my final word. I knew they thought this was about my own ego. It wasn't. I wouldn't join them in this. That was a promise. Ego has nothing to do with it.

At least, I hope not.

_And I want to ensure all Americans and all the citizens of the world that I tend to handle this meteor with the same efficiency that characterized my previous endeavors._

Lex's voice bounced off the cave walls and back to me, and I had to hear each word repeat itself at least three times. I looked at Bruce, hunched over one of his projects in full Bat regalia, and wondered how he could concentrate. Then again, I suppose it's a bit different when you don't have super hearing.

I forced myself to concentrate on Luthor's face. Psycho or not, a Presidential Announcement isn't something to take lightly, especially when the announcement concerns a meteor the size of a small country aiming to crash into the planet.

_But as a precaution, I'd like to meet with Superwoman. As soon as possible!_

Of course he would.

_It's time to bury our rivalry once and for all. And work together…for the good of mankind._

The window showing Luthor's face minimized and moved to rest beside one of Batman's closed files. Another file opened, showing the meteor our country's top scientists were tracking. If Lex isn't lying, then a piece of my _birth_ planet is hurtling closer to destroy my _home_ planet. I would laugh at the irony, but that's not my sense of humor.

"This is one time he's not lying."

Again, my attention was back to Batman. "About burying the rivalry? I don't think so."

"No, about the meteor. I've been tracking it for months on my own computers."

I didn't bother asking why he didn't tell me about it sooner. He's Batman, he has his reasons. I learned to trust him a long time ago, wholeheartedly. Besides that, he wouldn't give me an answer even if I asked. Maybe.

I placed a hand on my hip. Lex wasn't lying. Proof or not, that statement rings disbelieving little bells in my head. The meteor was a part of Krypton and the size of a small country, meaning it either contained more Kryptonite than I could survive, or was _solid _Kryptonite. Either way, the odds weren't looking in my favor. "I could go up there in a lead suit and smash the thing."

"There's no amount of lead that could keep out that much radiation." Batman moved to stand beside me. "It wouldn't stand up to all that smashing either."

I couldn't take my eyes off the meteor, that one piece of a home I'd never know. Feeling guilt was unavoidable. I knew this wasn't literally my fault; regardless, I felt it was my responsibility. I had to do something.

"Any other ideas?"

"I'm working on something with one of my contacts." As he moved away from me and back to his project, I finally removed my eyes from the screen. His back was blocking whatever he was working on, that lead-lined suit of his making it impossible for me to see. Not that I was trying. I was watching his shoulders rise and fall, subtly, like he wasn't breathing at all. I had never met anyone that moved like him, whose body _could _move like his, even doing something as simple as breathing.

"You're going to go ahead and meet with him, aren't you."

I blinked, not realizing I was still watching him until the deep tone of his voice broke whatever fixation I was under. I suppose staring at Batman was better than thinking about that ridiculous Kryptonite laced meteor. Or Lex. Batman didn't ask me if I was meeting Lex, he stated it. The jerk knew me, and even if he didn't Bruce wasn't one to ask many questions. Not at loud. He figures out what he wants to know, then hurls them at you. I could hear the smile in my voice as I spoke.

"You know me too well," I said, sure he could hear it, too. He'll get aggravated with me soon. It's routine. It's normal. It makes me happy. When he didn't say anything, I continued. Serious this time. "I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Well, when it all goes south, don't plan on me to save you."

I was about to take off, but stopped for a moment. A smile back on my face because there it was! The routine.

He still hadn't turned around, but that was okay. I was used to this. "I won't. I know you pretty well, too, Bruce."

I exited the cave and met the sky once more, all the while wondering what exactly it was I thought I was doing. Going to meet with Lex Luthor?

I hope there's at least _some_ ground of truth, something right about what Power Girl thinks she believes. Otherwise, this could turn out ugly.


	2. Metallo

_Thank you for everyone who reviewed, faved, or just took the time to check out this fic! You guys are made of candy _;)

I think I should clear up some things:

**First** of all, like I've said, this is an AU. Not everything will be coinciding exactly as the Public Enemies comic or movie portrays things.

**Second,** the timeline may be just a little off.

**Thirdly**, I have added the JL to this fiction because I may be using them in later chapters; however, I do know that I'll be doing spinoffs from this story involving the JL. Also, I plan to do other things with Josie that may not be related to Public Enemies, like other comic/movie AUs and a few one-shots! I'm so excited! :D

**Forth**…**Where Lois is concerned, well, I may need your help with that one. **I don't know if I want to genderbend her as well, or make her a sort of best friend/friendly competitor. **Tell me what you guys think**!

I think that's it. If not, message me your questions.

Again, please ignore any grammar/spelling mistakes.

Watching Lex exit his limo made me rethink my decision to meet with him.

He was a snake. Slippery, slimy, and ready to twist in impossible ways to get what he wants. I knew Lex was up to something. That recognizable instinct hasn't diminished in the slightest. Still, I've found myself here, floating above this empty, weapons training facility out of desperation for this planet.

Desperation makes you do stupid things.

Don't you just hate how some words come back to bite you?

I've been thinking the same thought a thousand times since leaving the Cave. _What am I doing_? Maybe I have a new mantra.

He arrived less than a minute ago, and already he's checking his watch. I wanted to make him wait, but I know that given the smallest amount of time I'd change my mind and leave him standing there. I'm already here, though. And I'm not sure how it would look to the American people if I refused a "heartfelt and sincere" meeting with the President. Who knows what kind of leverage that would give him.

Landing a few feet in front of him and his already tense looking guards, the only thing I could think to say was, "Well?"

I could see how concerned he was as he smirked and quirked his brow. His "genuine sincerity" almost made me snap. Almost.

"Somehow I knew that would be the first word out of your mouth."

The glare I offered as a response amused him, and his smirk widened for a moment before shrinking into something a little more serious. "When the meteor gets close enough I'm sending up a dozen missiles. Each one's going to have a fifty megaton warhead."

"What do you want from me?"

"Some of my…people… don't have as much confidence in this plan as I do. They think I need a backup."

Lex is confident in _his_ plan to save himself and his massive ego, while other people are concerned for their lives. What a surprise.

I couldn't help myself. "With the whole world at stake, that's not a bad idea."

"Does that mean you're willing to work for me?"

I looked from the smirk that had reappeared on his face to the hand he was offering me. There was my instinct, again.

_This was stupid, Kent_.

"_For_ you? "

"Yes…you'll be working _for_ me. But only in so far as I represent the country that adopted you. And that you _love_."

Lex Luthor had the type of voice that every word seemed to slip off his tongue like oil. He was smooth and confident. Too confident. An idiot could be able to pick up on the subtitles hidden in his words, or the meaning displayed in his mannerisms. He was bold. And he believed he had me where he wanted me.

Crap! He was up to something.

It wasn't until my vision started to blur that I realized it wasn't just my instinct I was feeling. Something was wrong. Something felt like…Kryptonite.

"What's wrong? Was I getting too sentimental?"

A groan escaped my lips before I could stop it. I swayed a bit before charging at him. He was lifted off his feet by his shirt collar before I could register what a bad idea it was to do that to the _President_.

My tongue felt heavy as I tried to speak. "Luthor…"

"You think I'd be crazy enough to meet you without some kind of protection?"

Lex wasn't afraid of me, even in his current position. A blond man, one of Lex's guards, stepped closer to him. The closer he came, the more pain I was in. It wasn't until he removed his black glasses and clean cut shirt, reveling the green glow of his eyes and heart beneath a fake skin, that I understood exactly what Lex's insurance was.

"Metallo."

"Who _else _could stand up to you?"

I was disgusted with the confidence I heard in his voice, disgusted by the fact I was getting too weak to hold him above the earth where I wanted him. His body slammed against the door of his limo, and he let out a hiss of pain at the impact. My head throbbed with sharp stabs of pain, beating in time with my slowing heart. I swear I could feel every cell split in my body, could feel my muscles deteriorate as Metallo stepped closer.

"You shouldn't have done that. He's the President. "he said, taking one step after another, and forcing me to grab on to the side of Lex's limo for support. The side-mirror shattered in my hand as I grasped it, not cognitive enough to measure my own strength.

At the corner of my eye, I watched as the other guards guided Lex to another limo parked behind the one I threw him against.

A punch to the face snapped my head back, breaking my pain-induced stare.

Sometimes being super isn't such a lousy thing. It took me about two seconds to gather enough mental strength and turn it into physical action. Two hits: an uppercut to the jaw, followed by a swift punch to the gut.

My strength was still there, enough at least to bring him to his knees. But I could feel each hit, hard, where once I wouldn't be able to feel it at all. I could feel my knees wobble beneath my thighs, and I swayed into the limo again, quicker than it took last time. If I can't get him to stay down soon, I'll lose consciousness.

It took more effort than it should have to rip the wheel from its frame and hurl it at Metallo. As it hit its mark, it knocked him on his back. He was only down for a moment, but it was enough time to retaliate. I never thought lifting a car above my head would be difficult, but I was panting and sweating with the effort, waiting for him to get up again.

Metallo was hunched over, lifting himself off the ground. And as he raised his head, I raised the limo a little higher before hitting him with it hard enough to literally pound him into the ground. My eyes located the gas tank, and I wasted no time in hitting it with my heat vision.

The explosion forced me to stumble a few feet back.

I wanted to shout my frustrations as two, glowing green lights got closer to me. Metallo stepped out of the fire, pissed as much as someone more machine than man could be. He hit me before I saw it coming.

Then he hit me again even quicker.

And then another five times so fast, I couldn't tell you where he hit first.

I got barely three hits in before he retaliated hard enough to knock me on my back. The sound of metal shifting caused me to question what was going on. I opened my eyes just in time to witness Metallo's metal hands turn into, of all things, a chainsaw and the biggest hammer I had ever seen. I didn't get to think about it much before my face became acquainted with said hammer half a dozen times.

His hammer-hand morphed back. His mistake was picking me up by my face. He recoiled backwards when my heat vision seared through his arm, detaching it from the rest of his body. I saved myself just in time; the chainsaw was inches away from my neck. Normally not something to be concerned about, but it was unknown to me what could happen standing this close to Kryptonite.

Especially sense I've been exposed to it for this long.

In the back of my mind, I heard a scream as I was backhanded hard enough that I was sent flying through the air. At some point, I realized the sharp, solid objects I was hitting as I crashed into the ground were headstones.

I was in a cemetery.

The rain woke me up. I groaned, and then stiffened at the pain in my chest and sides. I forgot that I was hurt-it's not something I usually have to remember.

I blinked a few times at the light coming closer to me. Wishing that the fog from the rain wasn't so thick, and wondering why the light was green.

Green…

No!

Metallo hadn't seen me, so I ducked behind one of the larger tombstones and hoped to God that my red cape couldn't be seen until my head was clear enough to think straight.

The tombstone I was hidden behind was long, thin, and had a pointed edge. _The better to throw with_.

When the stone made contact, it shattered and forced him back against the earth. He was up almost instantly. The second tombstone I threw at him was easily punched through, the impact not slowing him one bit.

I was even less lucky with the third object I tried to throw at him. I don't even know what it was; just that it wasn't someone's tombstone this time.

I was weak.

My mind was boiling.

My muscles felt like they were shredding.

And he was coming closer.

The…the Kryptonite…was coming… closer.

Metallo had me hoisted up by my throat, ready to kill me. My body was ready to give up. But I couldn't. I wouldn't just _stop_ fighting.

My momentary salvation came in the shape of a bat.

…or, rather several bats that had found themselves sticking out of Metallo's chest. An electrical current sent him to seizures painful enough that he dropped me.

I may have been screaming. I couldn't tell with my head still feeling like lava was being poured into it. Didn't help much that I was face down in mud, either.

I started to feel safe for some reason, thinking about that bat shape, and wanting so badly to lose conciseness. If I was still this weak, than Metallo was still close by. Real close.

Why did I feel safe, again?

A pair of black-gloved hands grasped my shoulders. I wanted to pull away, but they were dragging me far enough away from Metallo that my senses, super and otherwise, were coming back to me. I realized then that the presence was warm and human. His scent was familiar and his touch was normal.

Normal.

"Batman."

He had dragged me far enough away that I could stand on my own shaky feet. "Batman…" I groaned as he lifted my left arm over his shoulder, bearing most of my weight. It was getting easier for me to move every step we took. I looked behind me, taking in whatever it was Bruce had done to Metallo. He was still seizing, and definitely screaming, I realized. But he was starting to pull each bat shaped weapon out one at a time. "That's not gonna hold him much longer."

"I know. That's why we have to get you out of here."

I felt my knees start to fail me before I saw the metallic, tentacle-like limb grasp Batman around his neck and throw his body into a group of headstones.

_Guess that's my payback_.

I shuddered, both from how close Metallo had found his way next to me, and because he was strangling Bruce. Watching this happen to him, his feet dangling off the ground and struggling to take a breath, made my chest clench in a way Kryptonite never would.

"No…" I muttered, catching myself from hitting the ground just in time to bear witness to Batman saving himself.

Once again.

It made me sick to my stomach knowing I couldn't help him. I couldn't stop the very small feeling of triumph as the weaponized baterang hit its mark.

Metallo's Kryptonite based heart.

The small explosion was enough to injury him only slightly, and I embraced his moment of weakness. I concentrated my heat vision, severing the limb that had Batman suspended and using Metallo's distraction to my advantage.

The arm receiving the severed limb regenerated into the shape of a gun. "Superwoman…from me, to you," Metallo picked something off the ground, but before I could question what it was, the gun was pointing at me.

There was bang.

I saw a glowing green light coming closer to me, followed quickly by seeing nothing at all but searing white as Kryptonite was lodged into my chest.

_Falling…has never hurt…me…this much_.

Wellup, chaper 2! Got that up a lot quicker than I thought I would.

So, what'd ya guys think?

=]


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